Leishmania major: Anti-leishmanial activity of Nuphar lutea extract mediated by the activation of transcription factor NF-κB

Lital Ozer, Joseph El-On, Avi Golan-Goldhirsh, Jacob Gopas

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Here we report the effect of a partially purified alkaloid fraction (NUP) of Nuphar lutea on nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) expression and studied its mechanism of toxicity against Leishmania major in C3H mice peritoneal macrophages. NUP was found to be a mixture of thermo-stable dimeric sesquiterpene thioalkaloids containing mainly thionupharidines. The anti-leishmanial activity was shown to be mediated through the activation of NF-κB and increased iNOS production. Additionally, the nitric oxide inhibitor, NG-monomethyl-l-arginine (0.5mM) totally reverted the anti-leishmanial effect of NUP (0.25 and 0.5μg/ml). NUP was also shown to act as an anti-oxidant, almost completely inhibiting the macrophage respiratory burst activity. However, no elevated lysozyme (EC3.2.1.17) or β-galactosidase (EC3.2.1.23) activities were demonstrated in macrophages treated with NUP. This study suggests, that the activity of NUP is mediated by NF-κB activation and the production of nitric oxide which is dependent on the l-arginine:NO pathway.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)510-516
Number of pages7
JournalExperimental Parasitology
Volume126
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Dec 2010

Keywords

  • Amastigotes
  • Inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)
  • Leishmania major
  • Lysozyme (EC3.2.1.17)
  • Mouse peritoneal macrophages
  • N-monomethyl-l-arginine (NMMA)
  • Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB)
  • Nuphar lutea
  • Respiratory burst (RB)
  • β-Galactosidase (EC3.2.1.23)

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Parasitology
  • Immunology
  • Infectious Diseases

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